


Butterflies

by llama_chan



Series: GabeNath one shots [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:48:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25840879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/llama_chan/pseuds/llama_chan
Relationships: Emilie Agreste/Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur
Series: GabeNath one shots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1831699
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

He didn't know why he was here. He'd rather be in his room playing with his superhero action figures. But his mum had been invited to some stupid party. The driver had just pulled up outside the house. It wasn't very big, not like his. The door opened, and the driver started to unbuckle his seat. 

"Come on Gabriel." He heard his mother say.

"No! I don't want to go!" The driver went to pick him up, but Gabriel slapped his hands away. 

"Gabriel honey, come on, they have a little girl the same age as you."

"No! Girls are stupid!" Gabriel kicked his legs out against the driver.

"Am I stupid?" His mother picked him up out of his seat without a fuss. 

"No mummy, you're smart. Other girls are stupid." Gabriel wrapped his arms around his mother's neck. 

She stroked his cheek. "If you promise to behave for two hours, I'll get you an ice cream on the way back and I'll read you favourite book. Will you be a good boy for mummy then?" 

Gabriel stuck his bottom lip out, two hours was too long. "Okay mummy." He heard her say something before his feet touched the ground and they walked inside. 

Everyone was too big. He didn't like it. He clung to his mother's leg as best he could. He could see a couple of other children playing outside. 

"Mummy look, I got a butterfly!" A messy girl with black hair came bounding in, her hands clasped together. She opened her hands to reveal a very live butterfly. Her mother was visibly disgusted. 

"Very nice dear, how about you take it back outside."

"Okay!" She started to run back outside. She turned, running back to grab Gabriel's arm and dragged him outside. She pulled him over to a collection of plants and let the butterfly fly onto them. She started telling him all about the different kinds of butterflies. "I love butterflies, they're so free, I want to be a butterfly when I'm big." She held out a muddy hand to him. "I'm Nathalie."

He took it. His mother would hate the mess but he knew it would be… that big word she keeps using… impol-something. "Gabriel." He watched Nathalie suddenly beam at the name.


	2. Chapter 2

The two were inseparable, practically joined at the hip. Nearly a decade later, both now thirteen, Gabriel felt funny every time he saw her, or she was mentioned. People around him made jokes about Nathalie being his girlfriend, at first he didn't know what they meant, then he was disgusted by the thought, and now… now he was waiting for everyone to leave the locker room. It was Valentine's Day, the day he would finally confess that he 'like-liked' her. He watched as the last person left. He took the card out of his bag and a pen. He'd sign it, the card had everything he wanted to say anyway. Gabriel felt his heart hammer against his chest. He heard voices outside and he rammed the card back into his bag. 

"Hey Gabe! Hurry up or we're going to be late!" He nodded and ran to her side. Nathalie waved her friends off. She took his hand, sprinting off in the direction of their classroom. It was soft. Slightly cold. He didn't want to let go.

  
  


It was lunch and Gabriel was waiting in their usual spot. She ran over with several cards. She wasn't the most popular girl in the year but that didn't mean she wasn't one of the prettiest. Nathalie opened up each card, each one covered in some garish design. She went into her bag and pulled out a card. "Here," he took it. His head started to spin. There was no way she could be returning his feelings. And he was right. "I never see you get one. Happy Valentine's Day to the greatest friend." She held up her cup of water. Gabriel quickly plastered a smile onto his face and 'clinked' his cup with hers. Nathalie was silent for a moment.

"I know we were planning on watching a movie on Wednesday but… Thomas just asked me on a date," she brushed a strand behind her ear, "would it be okay, if we could do it another time." 

"Of course."

Nathalie beamed and leant over the table to pull him into a hug. "Thank you! You're the best!" She ran over to Thomas to confirm their date. Gabriel felt his heart shred. His appetite gone.

Her relationship with Thomas didn't last a month. She was heartbroken and he was there to comfort her. He waited until she was over him, and then someone else came along. The same thing happened every time, with various emotions. But in the end he couldn't stop loving her or comforting her. For two years this went on. Nathalie hadn't been in a relationship for two months and was finally over the last one. He would take his shot. He walked into her house like normal except, nothing was normal. Piles and piles of boxes filled the living room. He called out for her.

"Gabriel?" Her mother appeared from the kitchen. "How sweet of you to come and help us pack."

"Of course, Mrs Sancoeur."  _ 'Pack? What? Where?'  _

"Nathalie is upstairs in her room, she'll need the most help if you don't mind." Gabriel nodded and made his way to her room.

He stood at her door. He couldn't open it. 

"Mum!" Nathalie swung her door open and collided into his chest. She looked up and swallowed hard. She heard her mother call from the bottom of the stairs. "Doesn't matter!"

She shifted and folded her arms across her chest. "Hey."

"Hey." Gabriel rubbed the back of his neck. "Sooo, you're moving?"

"Yeah."

"Where to?"

"New York. Dad got a contract there."

"How long will you be gone?"

"A couple of years, I'll be back for university though."

"Want some help?"

"Sure." She nervously stepped aside to let him in. He immediately noticed the overflowing box she was trying to pack. He opened it, tipped out its contents and began to repack. Everything fitting in better than her attempt. The room was silent except for the sounds of boxes and newspaper. 

"Were you going to tell me?" Gabriel heard Nathalie sigh.

"I don't know. We weren't sure at first and then I guess… I don't know." She crashed into his chest sobbing. Gabriel wrapped his arms around her. "I don't want to go."

' _I_ _don't want you to either_ ' "Sometimes good things come from stuff we don't want to do." She looked up at him, eyebrow raised. "I didn't want to come to that stupid party all them years ago, but I got the bestest friend in the world." Gabriel pushed her away, wiping her tears. "No matter what we've been friends all these years and we still will be." Nathalie nodded.

"I'll call and I'll write. Like except one everyday. And you do the same."

He stood at the airport gate with his driver and waved her off. The butterfly dress long forgotten


	3. Chapter 3

Nathalie never came back for University. Her parents divorced and she stayed in the States with her father. Their calls and letters became less and less frequent to none at all. He was alone. 

"Oi! You! Yes you boy! I need the silk! No not that one! The other- oh for fuck sake get out." Gabriel was kicked out of the atelier. He hated movie studios anyway. The door opened and his bags were thrown out. He bent down to scoop up his designs. A female hand came into view, picking up his designs. 

"These are amazing." Her blonde hair shone on the visible sun, her green eyes sparkled like emeralds. 

"Emilie Graham De-Vinily." She nodded.

"And you are?" 

"Gabriel. Gabriel Agreste."

Emilie quickly filled in the hole that Nathalie left. She was his muse and his fashion brand was able to take off. Gabriel wanted to marry her, he had the ring prepared but there was one problem. He needed help to run his company. None of the candidates suited his criteria, which is how he found himself in a bar. He had ordered another whiskey when he overheard a man sexually harassing someone. He got up from his stool.

"Look, the lady isn't interested."

The man laughed. He was much larger than Gabriel. "What are you going to do?" He laughed harder. "Just get out of my way." He shoved Gabriel out of the way.

"I said the lady isn't interested." The man turned around clearly annoyed. 

"You're really starting to piss me off!" 

"I was just about to say the same thing." 

The larger man growled before swinging a punch. Gabriel ducked out of the way, striking at his liver. The man doubled over and stumbled back. He righted himself and charged at him. Gabriel grabbed the man's arm and threw him over his shoulder. The larger man landed with a loud thud. 

"I said the lady isn't interested." The man grunted. Gabriel heard heels behind him. He watched the woman deliver a swift kick between the brute's legs. Gabriel drained the whiskey from his glass and left the bar. 

"Thanks for that." 

He turned around, "You're wel-come. Nathalie?"

"Gabriel!" She quickly pulled him down into a hug. "It's been so long."

"I know look at you!" She was wearing a deep v-neck red dress that barely covered her bum. Her black hair had been cut into a bob and she was now wearing glasses. "My god how have you been."

"I've been great, just moved back to Paris last week. What about you?" 

"Amazing, started up my fashion brand." 

"I heard." Nathalie pushed him away for a moment. "I just- I just can't believe it."

"Do you want to come back for a coffee?"

"Fuck yes, anything is better than being out on my own."

Gabriel and Nathalie talked until the next morning. He heard his door slam open and a furious Emilie walk in. She spared a glance at Nathalie before throwing the newspaper at him. "I should have known better." 

He read the headline  **Gabriel Agreste spotted leaving with floozy** .

"Floozy!" Nathalie snatched the paper out of his hands. 

"Emilie baby, this is Nathalie, my best friend since childhood."

"Do I really look like a floozy!"

"In that dress, yes."

"Blame Gucci." The two burst out laughing. Emilie crossed her arms and tapped her foot against the floor. When their laughter subsided, Gabriel wrapped his arms around Emilie's waist and he started to kiss the spot under her ear. "Too much PDA Gabe!"

A few days later and Nathalie would become Gabriel's assistant. A few months later and she would be his Best Man (or Woman) at his wedding. Three years later and she would be there to welcome Adrien into the world. 

"I can't believe I have a son."

"Neither can I, you're still a child yourself." Under normal circumstances Gabriel would hit her arm, but the baby in his arms was far too precious. 

A month after Adrien was born Emilie made it clear she didn't like Nathalie and Gabriel's closeness. Nathalie was offended. She would never do such a thing, but she could understand where the woman was coming from. So she built barriers to protect her friend.

Nathalie watched from the sidelines. She wanted a family like this of her own, but was unable to settle down with anyone. Adrien grew and grew and became almost like a son to her. Then Emilie got sick. The once happy home turned into the darkest place she'd ever known. Nathalie didn't learn about the miraculous and Gabriel's plan to be Hawkmoth until after Emilie fell into a coma. She was horrified at the idea. She agreed to assist one night after she found him slumped over drunk. He helped her through her lowest points like her parents divorce, so the least she could do was return the favour. But what she didn't know was returning the favour would turn into admiration and then love.


	4. Chapter 4

Adrien was moving into university accommodation with his friend Nino. Gabriel refused at first but after a heated argument with Nathalie he finally gave in. Adrien wanted a few family photos for the apartment which is how Gabriel found himself in the storage room with his assistant. 

He plucked out an old album filled with photos of him as a baby, then another filled with him and Nathalie through the years until the age of 15. He smiled fondly at them.

"Did you find it sir?"

"No, just an album of simpler times." He passed it over to Nathalie. She looked at the first one. Gabriel sat next to her.

"Oh I remember that's when we first met. Mother was furious at the state we were in." She flipped the page. "And this was your sixth birthday party if I remember correctly. Aww and Halloween. You made a cute little pumpkin." He wasn't looking at the album but at her. A familiar feeling he had long forgotten stirred inside him. He felt his heart flutter ever so slightly as she spoke. He shook his head. It was merely nostalgia. "Oh and this one is the first dress you ever made!" She pointed at a hideous blue dress that she happily modeled. 

"It's disgusting." He moved away over to where he found the albums. He pulled out an unlabeled box. "What's this?" He opened it up. Right at the top was the valentine's card Nathalie had given to him when they were 13. "Well fuck me." 

"What?" Nathalie creeped up to his side and looked in the box. She gasped at its contents. It was filled with stuff she had given him. "You kept all this?"

"For a while yes but I didn't know this box existed." He pulled out a few items and the memories came flooding back.

_ "If we don't get married before we're thirty, I'll marry you." Gabriel said. Nathalie handed him a candy ring.  _

_ "As long as we have these our promise stands."  _

They were 6 at the time.

_ "Happy birthday Gabriel!" Nathalie handed him his gift. He tore the paper off to find a sketchbook, paints and pencils. "I know you like to draw." _

_ He pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank you! This is the best gift ever."  _

It was his eleventh birthday.

"I don't remember giving you this." She pulled out a large bundle of fabric. She held it against her to get a better look at it fully. It was too small for her.

"You won't. It was supposed to be my gift to you." He took the dress out of her hands and caressed the material. "When we first met you said you wanted to be a butterfly when you grew up, at the time it was silly. But I made this dress for your sixteenth so you could fulfill that wish." Tears start to well in her eyes and it takes all her inner strength to not let them fall. "It's designed after the first butterfly you ever showed me, the Monarch butterfly. A butterfly just as regal as the intended owner of this dress." Nathalie couldn't hold back the tears anymore. Gabriel finally looked up. He put the dress down and cupped her face in his hands, wiping away her tears. An action so familiar.

Her lips crashed into his. He froze. She pulled back apologising profusely. She backed away but Gabriel grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him, kissing her. Her lips were soft, sweet and her. Nathalie held back at first, unsure if it was real, before matching his pace. An arm snaked around her waist to the small of her back, pushing her closer to him.

She pulled her head back. "We shouldn't." His opposite hand slid into her hair. Gabriel chased after her lips. Nathalie turned her head away. He let go of her. Nathalie spared him a glance before bolting out of the room. She quit the next day.

Gabriel's heart ached without her presence. Hawkmoth felt more like a chore than whatever it was before. The pictures of Emilie haunted him further.

_ "Gabriel if you truly love me you'd do anything to bring me back right?"  _

_ "As if you have to question it my love."  _

_ "Then prove it, save me at whatever cost."  _


	5. Chapter 5

Mayura stood at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Despite Ladybug and Chat Noir being close by, she could think here. She shouldn't have kissed him. It was a stupid mistake. He didn't love her. But he kissed her back. He's just lonely. She fell back against the railing. She screwed up. She should have left at the first sign of love. Gabriel wouldn't love her. He only loved Emilie.

"The Eiffel Tower does have a good view." Mayura jumped up, stumbling backwards. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the fall. It never came. Instead she felt his strong arms wrap around her, pulling her upright.

"What are you doing here?"

Hawkmoth brushed a strand behind her ear. "I could sense your distress and frankly I've had enough." 

"Please I'm sorry. I nev-mhmm." She melted into his arms. His lips were rougher than last time. They pulled away for air, foreheads resting against each other, breaths ragged. 

"What's wrong?" He kissed her again. 

"I love you!" She murmured against his lips.

"Really, how convenient." He kissed her again.

"How so?"

"I never stopped loving you." He poured everything he had into the kiss. 

"But what about Emilie? The vow you made to her? Adrien? Did you even love her?" She pulled herself free. Her heart pounded, her head hurt. She felt as though she couldn't breathe like she was suffocating. She could hear someone speak but it was like her head was under water. Then darkness.

She rolled over. The surface was soft. 

"Nathalie?" His voice.

"Gabriel?" She opened her eyes to see him sat waiting with baited breath. He sighed in relief.

"How are you feeling?" He moved a hand to caress her cheek, pulling it back, afraid he might trigger whatever that was.

"Like I've been hit by a bus," she grunted as she moved, "and like I've been asleep for years, I guess." 

"You had a panic attack."

"Uh huh. I felt someone's emotion and I guess I let it become my own." She blindly reached for her glasses. Gabriel reached over and put them on. 

"I felt it too." Gabriel moved her hair back. "Nathalie, to answer some of your earlier questions,"

"No stop." She got up, each step feeling like she was walking on nails.

"No! Adrien already considers you family, he'd be okay if we were together, he made that clear on several occasions. The vow I made… Adrien is at university, I've missed so much already… I couldn't live with myself if I missed any more. What's stopping you?"

Nathalie stopped at the door. "Please Gabriel just drop it."


	6. Chapter 6

Gabriel walked the hospital corridors. He eventually found room 309. 

"Hey dad, you made it."

"Sorry I couldn't be here sooner. The flight was delayed."

"It's okay, age has slowed you down old man." 

"I will hit you in a minute." Gabriel smiled widely. He would let his son off this once.

"Would you like to hold her?" Gabriel nodded and sat down in the nearest chair, muscles and bones aching. Adrien placed the pink bundle in his arms. "Emma this is your grandpa."

Gabriel stroked the little girl's cheek. "She's beautiful." He felt tears well in his eyes. He couldn't imagine being here if he carried on being Hawkmoth. His first grandchild. "How's Marinette?"

"Exhausted. Tom and Sabine are with her. I asked if we could have a moment alone." Adrien twisted the ring on his finger. "I know we haven't seen eye to eye over the last few years because you know… but having Emma… it put things into perspective and I'm willing to move on from it, if you are?" Gabriel nodded.

A knock at the door. "Hello?" In walked in Nathalie Sancoeur. Delicate wrinkles graced her features, grey hair replaced the red streak. In his eyes it was like she hadn't aged since he last saw her. She stood tall. "I uh didn't know what to bring." She held out the pink gift bag. Adrien placed it on the side and pulled her into a hug. 

"I've missed you." 

"I've missed you too." Nathalie pulled away and straightened her suit. "You promised me I could hold her." Adrien nodded and took his daughter from Gabriel's arms and placed her in Nathalie's. "She's gorgeous." Emma started to become unsettled. "I think someone wants her mummy." She handed the girl back to Adrien, who took her Marinette. 

Gabriel struggled to get up. Nathalie rushed to his side and helped him stand. He grabbed his cane and they left in silence. He sent a quick text to Adrien saying he would be going home for a couple of hours. She drove him back to the Agreste mansion. When they arrived he didn't move. 

"I'm sorry for when we last saw each other." Gabriel rubbed his ring finger.

"It's okay." She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. 

"My feelings haven't changed, if you're willing."

"Neither have mine." She smiled sweetly at him. 

Three months later, they were standing in front of each other, reciting vows, declaring love for one another. 

"I guess I finally got my wish," she rested her head on his chest, "I finally got to become a butterfly."

Gabriel encircled his arms around her more, "That you did."


End file.
